


Missing

by Lady_of_Rohan



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Art, Cops, Detectives, Digital Art, Feelings, Gen, Implied Relationships, Longing, Loss, Missing Persons, Partnership, Police, Pre-Game(s), Rain, Sad, Searching, Trenchcoats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-25
Updated: 2014-11-25
Packaged: 2018-02-26 22:59:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2669555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_of_Rohan/pseuds/Lady_of_Rohan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The moment Sebastian didn't show up for work, Joseph knew that something was wrong. He just didn't expect the awful truth of his partner's disappearance to be so hard to handle.</p><p>Pre-game fic with Joseb undertones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missing

**Author's Note:**

> The obligatory "Joseph searches for Seb once he goes missing" fic... which was a prompt request from the lovely rosso-sketchblog on tumblr.If you've started a NG+, you'll know that you can find Sebastian's missing person's poster.. and Joseph's poster also heavily implies that he disappeared while looking for Sebastian.
> 
> Sebastian is still tagged in the story and there's a lot of talk about him, although he's not physically in this piece. There are plenty of Joseb hints which I had fun adding... of course leaving it up to the reader's interpretation just how shippy they want to perceive it.
> 
> EDIT: Rosso-sketchblog has made an additional illustration for my fic! Check it out here : http://40.media.tumblr.com/d481884002f6068ae4df56d1439a4e07/tumblr_nfs7ntokQ61u3vk63o5_500.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four days and 18 hours since Sebastian had gone missing.  
  
Joseph stood outside of the Krimson Police Station, watching the cars pass by on the slick city streets while the rain poured relentlessly down. His brow unusually knitted, he adjusted his coat and opened his umbrella. Then, he set foot down the small set of stairs that led to the pavement below, and carried off down the sidewalk.  
  
Navigating around a particularly offensive puddle, Joseph frowned.  
  
Four days of this, and still no leads.  
  
Sebastian had been accepted as a missing person's case, and as his partner, he was granted permission to search for him. But it hadn't been so easy initially... nor had it brought him any comfort.  
  
On the first day, when Sebastian didn't show up for his usual shift... the jokes around the office flew freely. It seemed no one assumed the worst, and even Joseph figured that Seb simply had a particularly rough night, and would arrive eventually. Perhaps a bit irritable or worse for wear, but arriving, none the less. All around him, the gossip spread:  
  
_"Must be hungover... again."_  
  
_"Probably drank the town dry."_  
  
_"I'll bet you ten bucks he shows up in yesterday's clothes."_  
  
But when Sebastian didn't show up, and the hours dragged on without so much as a phone call, Joseph began to fear the worst.  
  
Utilizing his lunch break to swing by Seb's apartment, Joseph didn't bother eating. On his way there, he consoled himself by fantasizing about the best case scenario, that his partner had slept hours past his alarm... and that he'd arrive to see him safe and sound in his own bed, lulled into a whiskey-induced slumber. He'd stay for a time, and perhaps make some lunch for the two of them... maybe help Sebastian into the shower where he could sober up, as he'd done before when he was too inebriated to stand on his own two feet.  
  
But he didn't hold his breath.  
  
Pulling into the driveway, his fears were momentarily alleviated when he noticed that Sebastian's car was still parked outside. He got out of his own vehicle and checked Sebastian's just in case he'd fallen asleep in it. Though a rare occurrence, it wasn't unheard of that he'd barely drag himself home and make it into the driveway at the end of the day... but no further. Peering through the window, with one gloved palm placed over his eyes and the other pressing up against the glass, he found it was empty.  
  
Glancing over to the door of Sebastian's apartment, he supposed there was only one other logical option as to Seb's whereabouts.  
  
A sudden chill rushed down his spine as the wind assaulted him, and he walked to the front door as he fumbled for his keys from within his vest pocket.  
  
Some might find it strange that he had the key to Sebastian's apartment, but the two had agreed that if anything should happen, they should each have one in case of emergency. It was far from protocol, but then again, their bond was deeper than most assigned partners. The last few months had only strengthened that bond.  
  
Stepping up to the doorway, Joseph inhaled, attempting to calm his uneven breathing. He couldn't shake the feeling of nervous anxiety swelling in his chest... terrified of what he might find. He found his right hand hovering anxiously over his gun... just in case he should need it.  
  
As he turned the key in the door and quietly opened it, stepping past the threshold... Joseph found himself staring into the darkened living room of Sebastian's apartment. He switched on the light to better see, as the drawn curtains didn't allow much light to pour through.  
  
At first glance, it looked remarkably untouched. Normal. Familiar. Quiet. Well-managed and typical, save for a few articles of clothing or an unwashed dish here or there. Taking a few steps inside, Joseph noted Seb's keys on the hook by the doorway, and his laptop still sitting on the coffee table.  
  
Barely finding his voice, Joseph called out. "Sebastian?"  
  
An eerie silence answered him, followed by the echoing wind that rushed against the walls of the building.  
  
 If Sebastian had gone anywhere, he hadn't gone far.  
  
Venturing further in, Joseph stepped past the kitchen and entered the hallway which housed his bedroom. The bedroom door was ajar, and so, steeling himself, he gently pushed it open. His first instinct was disappointment upon seeing the empty bed, and the lack of light in the adjacent washroom... but disappointment quickly transformed into a surge of fear when he caught sight of something crumpled up on the floor.  
  
Joseph froze, his veins feeling icy as his footsteps promptly ceased. He stared at Seb's beloved trench coat, discarded near the center of the room.  
  
It wasn't hung up lovingly, or placed protectively at the end of the bed, as it always was. Most disturbingly, it wasn't on his person. It was well-known to not only Joseph but to the entire department that Sebastian never went anywhere without it. It could be 90 degrees outside, absolutely sweltering, and still, Sebastian could be seen wearing that weathered and worn article.  
  
Of course, given recent events, nobody could blame him.  
  
Daring to kneel down before the coat, Joseph felt ill as the weight of the situation hit him at full force.  
  
His mind was a whirlwind of possible explanations. Perhaps he took a walk, but no, it was far too brisk to have ventured outside without his coat, and he would have called in if he needed time. Maybe he was ill... taken to the hospital. But surely they would have seen his badge. Or it could be possible that he'd stayed the night with some acquaintance...too drunk to get himself home, but then Joseph realized that if he were to stay anywhere, it would have been with _him_. He would have been the first he'd called, as he always was.  
  
Something was horribly awry.  
  
Reaching a gloved hand out, Joseph tentatively touched the collar of Seb's trench coat, as if a piece of him was still here with him. Telling him something, communicating like the howl of the wind outside of the apartment's walls...  
  
Those words that Sebastian had uttered, all those months ago, came back to haunt him.  
  
_"Joseph, I don't think Myra left at all. I think she was taken."_  
  
_Taken_.  
  
The puzzle pieces were fitting together, but not in the way he had hoped. The implications were almost too overwhelming to consider.  
  
Joseph swore that he felt a breeze just then, assuming he was imagining things as he quirked an eyebrow and turned his head to regard the bedroom window. Leaving Sebastian's coat to lay upon the ground (though it was tempting to retrieve it), Joseph stood again.  
  
He strode towards the window... reaching a palm out to test for any rush of air. Upon further inspection, Joseph found that it was opened a crack. Though others might deem it as circumstantial, Joseph knew for a fact that Sebastian wasn't the type to open a window and let a calming breeze roll in... especially not in this sort of dreary weather.  
  
That was enough evidence for him.  
  
Joseph drove back to the station with an empty stomach, and a heart filled with dread. Kidman was the first to know. He figured she was privy to the information, being partnered with the two of them... but she seemed particularly dismissive of his doubts, and assured him that he was overreacting. She'd barely given him a sidelong glance, let alone any reassurance, before excusing herself back to her work.  
  
Nonplussed, he reported his findings to the department next, but was largely brushed off when he insisted that they file a missing person's report as quickly as possible. According to them, a forgotten trench coat and an opened window weren't enough to extrapolate an abduction.  
  
They would have to wait.  
  
And wait they did.  
  
All the while, Joseph found the similarities between Myra's case and Sebastian's to be far too glaring. While most claimed "coincidence" or blamed it on his partner's penchant for drinking, Joseph maintained that there was foul play afoot.  
  
On day two, Joseph had to take a sleeping pill to allow himself some rest, and in the morning, had groggily ordered two coffees out of habit before he arrived for work. The gossip of the department, along with the atmosphere, had also swiftly transformed. Joseph overheard it all:  
  
_"Couldn't even live with himself."_  
  
_"Probably drove himself into a ditch."_  
  
Unable to stand the suffocating atmosphere, Joseph once again visited Sebastian's apartment half-way through the day in search of any other evidence, and found it lacking.  
  
Day three brought some semblance of hope. Enough time had elapsed that the department accepted Sebastian as an official missing person's case. Joseph had a feeling that they still weren't taking it seriously, and were only hopping so quickly on it so as not to cause unrest among the other officers. His apartment was blocked off for investigation by the forensic team. Despite being his partner, Joseph wasn't allowed in until they were finished. He understood, of course. Personal implications. Though he would have deemed the situation as infinitely more serious, the rest of his colleagues seemed not to care.  
  
_"The goddamned drunk."_  
  
_"Always knew he couldn't be trusted."_  
  
_"Maybe he got wise after driving the wife away, and the guilt finally ran him out of town."_  
  
Joseph wasn't quick to temper, but at the last quip, his barely-contained emotions were brought to a bubbling boil.  
  
Sebastian had spent his entire life defending the helpless and the downtrodden, and he wasn't about to sit back and take it when Sebastian was the one who needed a voice, now. If he couldn't speak for himself, then Joseph would speak for him.  
  
"You should all be ashamed," he'd said, more calmly than he would have liked, though is hands were shaking. "Sebastian is one of our own... and he deserves professionalism. Especially now."  
  
The mood of the office became considerably more solemn after that.  
  
By the time day four rolled around, Joseph was exhausted, both in spirit and body. He'd barely eaten, hardly slept... immersing himself headfirst into his workload, and the stack of missing person's files sitting upon his desk as he desperately searched for any clues regarding Sebastian's whereabouts.  
  
During their thorough sweep of his apartment, the forensic team had found nothing of consequence. There were no signs of foul play... in fact, they'd urged that he'd simply left without a trace, so as not to further complicate things. It wasn't unheard of, and Sebastian's mental state, coupled with his status with Internal Affairs, did nothing to aid him in a positive way. They'd assured Joseph that it was nothing personal, and "an easy way out" to his pile of growing problems, both with his personal life and with his work.  
  
But Joseph refused to believe them. He knew Seb better than anyone... and remained determined to find his partner.  
  
He began tirelessly searching town, asking anyone who may have caught sight of him. He visited all of Sebastian's usual haunts. The cafe, the bar, the dry cleaner's. Their last encounters with him didn't seem connected to his disappearance... and the search carried on.  
  
That night, though he knew he shouldn't have, Joseph returned to Sebastian's empty apartment. The area was still blocked off... though he was technically allowed to be there, now that the scientists had done a thorough inspection of the place. It could surely raise suspicions if he was caught.. but he'd be sure that wouldn't happen.  
  
As subtle as a shadow as he slunk around the building, Joseph found himself fumbling at the front door to Seb's apartment again. He imagined briefly that it was another time, another place. Back when Seb was always happy to see him, and his cares in the world were only caused by a consistent workload. He'd open that door, usher him in with a gregarious pat on the back... and invite him inside to visit the family.  
  
Of course, those times were long gone... and now only ghosts remained of the life that Sebastian once lived. A life that Joseph was always privileged to be a part of.  
  
Joseph sneaked in, feeling particularly morose as he set down his small bag of belongings and his briefcase, and then headed straight for the bedroom.  
  
For preaching about being professional, Joseph knew that this _wasn't_...  
  
... but emotion overrode logic. He desperately needed some sleep... and a familiar change of scenery.  
  
The bedroom looked untouched, and Seb's coat was still discarded upon the ground, precisely where he'd left it. Not even taken in for evidence...  
  
Joseph picked it up, and removing his shoes, he sat at the edge of Sebastian's bed in the darkened room with the coat folded in his lap. He remained there for a time, staring into the void and absorbing the cold, empty feeling that remained as moonlight peeked through the window. It chilled him down to the core. After a while, he felt bold enough to lie down, setting his glasses upon the bedside table and daring to rest his head against Sebastian's pillow. A wan smile passed over his features. It still smelled like him... a combination of aftershave and cigarette smoke.  
  
Clinging to the pillow tightly, the guilt began setting in. If only Seb would have opened up... if only he had believed in him more, he could have helped him carry the burden. If he truly had escaped without a trace, he couldn't understand it... and if he was taken, he couldn't fathom why.  
  
Perhaps he could have prevented this, or could have protected him more capably... and he wouldn't be missing his partner right now. Deep down, he knew that he'd always done his best for him... but it hadn't been enough. How could it have been?  
  
Sebastian had always been the strong one.  
  
Hot tears stung at his eyes and threatened to overflow at the sheer frustration and helplessness that Joseph suddenly felt, that terrifying abyss of loneliness that he could easily sink into... but he wouldn't succumb that easily.  
  
After all, Seb never had, even after his entire world quite literally burned down to the ground.  
  
He'd keep searching... because somewhere, deep down in his gut, he knew that he was out there. Even if it cost him his job, or his respectability or even his sanity... he'd bring Sebastian home.  
  
That night, clutching Sebastian's pillow in a restless slumber, Joseph managed to sleep for the first time all week.  
  
Back on the sleek, glistening sidewalk of Krimson City as it was saturated by a steady afternoon downpour, Joseph held tightly to his umbrella. Now soon to be day five without his partner by his side, he spotted a postal worker making deliveries.  
  
He approached casually, retrieving his leather notebook from his vest pocket.  
  
"Excuse me, sir, do you have a moment?" The man paused, and set down a couple of boxes outside of the nearest shop, while Joseph opened his book to display a photograph of Sebastian. "Have you seen this man?"  
  
Joseph held the notebook open with his thumb held between the pages. Coming a bit closer to glance at the picture, the postman seemed truly apologetic as he shook his head.  
  
"Can't say I have. Something happen to him?"  
  
Joseph sighed, forcing a polite smile. "That's what I'm trying to find out."  
  
"Well, good luck to you, detective."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
There was a solemn quality to the air as Joseph carried on down the street, a weight to his step as he held his notebook opened. At the street light, he paused, waiting for it to turn so that he could cross... and glancing down, he noticed droplets of rain beading on the photograph. They almost looked like tears.  
  
His umbrella balancing against his shoulder, his gloved hand delicately wiped them away... and he found his fingertips lingering there, reverently tracing Sebastian's features as his familiar visage stared up at him.  
  
And then he closed his book, safely tucking it away beneath his vest... close to his heart.  
  
The photograph didn't bring him nearly as much solace as the real thing, but it was something, a driving force to be inspired by as the wind whipped against him, and the clouds poured rain from the sky. Joseph would keep searching, because four days without his partner was already far too long.  
  
Adjusting the belt of that weathered old trench coat around his waist, Joseph swore that he'd never give up.

 

 

 

 


End file.
